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One week back at work and already frustrated. . .

Just started back at work last week. I have a nanny who cares from my DD while I'm out. Basically from day one the nanny started feeding my 13 week old daughter 15-17 oz throughout three feedings during the day. She actually wants to start feeding her more. At work I'm pumping three times a day (10-15 min/time) and only pumping a total of 11 and 13 oz. I feed her myself once in the AM and three times when I get home - a total of 7 feedings a day.

I'm trying to understand what's going on here. Am I just not producing enough? What can I do to help this? Is the nanny overfeeding when the baby just wants to suck on something? I still seem to have more than enough to satisfy the baby when I'm feeding her so I'm at a loss.

Re: One week back at work and already frustrated. . .

Re: One week back at work and already frustrated. . .

Does your nanny have experience with breastfeeding babies, or is she used to formula "requirements"? It may be that the baby needs more milk during the day... but it also may be that she needs to be held more (or worn!), or that the flow in the bottle nipple is too fast and is not giving her body time to signal that her tummy is full, or that she has an achy tummy from gas, etc. How long have you been pumping?

Re: One week back at work and already frustrated. . .

The general rule is to leave 1-1.5 ounces per hour you are away from baby. Here is a good article with information about how much expressed milk a baby needs. Show that to your nanny if she tries to give you a hard time about baby needing more milk. Lots of care providers who are used to taking care of formula fed babies have this problem of giving too much breastmilk, but your baby shouldn't be taking more than 3, maybe 4 ounces per feeding. Do you leave bottles pre-made for her or does she have access to frozen milk? It might be worthwhile to fix her bottles- 3 ounces in each with a 1-2 ounce top-off bottle just in case baby is really hungry or going through a growth spurt. And you might want to share this article with her on how to bottle feed a breast-fed baby, with lots of tips on how to mimic nursing with a bottle and how to soothe a baby with a strong suckling instinct without giving more food than baby needs.

I know this wasn't exactly your question, but typically you should be trying to nurse/feed baby 8-12 times in a 24 hour period. I'm sure your baby is eating plenty, since it looks like she's getting half (or more) of what she needs daily from the nanny, but if you decrease that amount to a more reasonable level she will need to get more from you. Do you nurse at all overnight?

“We are not put on earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each other. If you are there always for others, then in time of need, someone will be there for you.”
--Anonymous

Re: One week back at work and already frustrated. . .

I'm not pumping overnight as dd sleeps for an eight hour stretch.

I've also tried to start pumping for five minutes before my first feeding to supplement. Yesterday I got 4 oz. today only 3. Starting to think there's a mix of over feeding (17 oz fed to her yesterday by nanny) and diminishing supply here. Can supply diminish that fast?

Today my dad is watching her and he's only getting 13 oz. We'll see what happens...

Re: One week back at work and already frustrated. . .

Yes, for some moms milk supply can decrease dramatically in a short period of time.

It's quite unusual for a 13 week old infant to sleep an 8 hour stretch. A lot of babies that age are nursing every few hours throughout the night. When a baby eats all night long, it's rotten for mom's sleep but it's great for her milk production, and it has the added benefit of decreasing the chances of the mom's fertility returning (anytime your baby routinely goes >6 hours without nursing, your estrogen levels are getting a chance to rise high enough to provoke a fertile cycle). If you need more milk, you might want to consider adding a middle-of-the night pumping session to your routine, or better yet, waking the baby and nursing her in the wee hours. The more milk baby takes in overnight, the less she may need when she's bottle-feeding, reducing the pressure on you to provide massive amounts of milk via pumping.